The Scoop app offers all the benefits of carpooling without sacrificing control

With major cities continuing to get congested with increased traffic, carpooling is becoming a necessity. Carpooling not only saves you money and time, it helps the environment as well. However, the biggest problem with carpooling has always been control and convenience. A new app called Scoop aims to change this by offering all the benefits of carpooling without the need to sacrifice control.

Other companies have tried similar things, but Scoop is going about this in a more strategic manner. By partnering with employers to offer Scoop to their employees, it can easily match up carpoolers in a more effective manner.

Using the app on iOS or Android, users can request a carpool each commute trip one way at a time, without any commitments. Scoop’s algorithm then matches commuters based on attributes such as home and work locations, employer, traffic, conditions, pick-up time, and more.

All Scoop users split the cost of the commute, and the riders reimburse the driver for gas and the cost of wear and tear to the car. Depending on how many passengers are in the car, drivers end up receiving 50 to 100 percent of their commute cost.

The costs are fixed and based on distance traveled, which means there’s no extra cost during high traffic periods. Scoop claims it’s 25 percent cheaper than driving alone.

Cash is never transferred, so Scoop users never need to worry about collecting money. All payments are made through the app.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Scoop is concentrating with partnerships in the Bay Area. Active trips began in August 2015 along routes to Pleasanton with employers such as Workday, Kaiser, Permanente, Clorox, and Gap. The service is also available in North San Jose with employers like Cisco, Samsung, Brocade, BD Technologies, and more. There are over 30,000 employees covered between Pleasanton and San Jose. The company plans to add more Bay Area destinations later this year.